Thursday 28 October 2010

BJP International Photography Award - exhibition

The winners of the 2010 BJP International Photography Award are being exhibited at the AOP Gallery (Association of Photographers) from the 2nd to the 6th November.
The winner of the 'body of work' category is
Peter diCampo for his Life Without Lights series:



Peter DiCampo, Lights at the night time market in Gbulung, Ghana.

DiCampo writes about the project on his website:
Year-round in Ghana, the sun sets at 6pm and rises at 6am - thus, the residents of communities lacking electricity live half of their lives in the dark. Over ten years ago, the government of Ghana began a massive campaign to provide the country's rural north with electricity, but the project ceased almost immediately after it began. The work sluggishly resumes during election years, as candidates attempt to garner popularity and votes. But at present, an estimated 73% of villages remain without electricity in the neglected north - an area comprising 40% of the country.

Living without lights is more than just a minor inconvenience. Electricity provides a paramount step on the ladder of economics, and northern villagers know what is being kept from them: lights to study and cook by, machinery and refrigeration, and a standard of living that would attract teachers, nurses, and other civil service workers from the city, not to mention foreign tourists. Potential economic growth is stifled and poverty's cyclical nature is perpetuated...

The winner of the single image category is Michelle Sank for her picture of a sleeping man, an award which has proved to be controversial in the pages of the BJP.













Michelle Sank, Man asleep on the Golden Mile, Durban, South Africa.

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